Amgen cross-licensing deal with Servier goes through

Amgen has finalised a collaboration with Servier that will bolster the pipelines of both companies.

A waiting period to allow any antitrust concerns to emerge has now elapsed, so the two companies can proceed with the transaction. The deal gives the US biotechnology giant rights in the US to Servier's first-in-class heart drug ivabradine, which is already approved in Europe under the brand name Procoralan for the treatment of chronic heart failure and stable angina in patients with elevated heart rates.

Amgen also gains an exclusive option to develop and commercialise Servier's investigational molecule S38844 - which is currently in Phase II testing for heart failure - for cardiovascular indications in the US.

In return, Servier has secured European commercialisation rights to omecamtiv mecarbil - an activator of cardiac myosin which is being developed by Amgen in collaboration with Cytokinetics and has reached Phase II testing in the US. Omecamtiv mecarbil is being studied in patients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction, who are hospitalised with acute heart failure

Amgen and Servier can exercise their options for S38844 and omecamtiv mecarbil, respectively, up to the completion of phase II studies.

With the deal now going through Amgen will make a one-time upfront payment of $50 million to Servier, which will also receive milestone payments as ivabradine continues through development as well as royalties should the drug reach the market. The financial terms related to the two option compounds have not been disclosed.

The deal is one of several agreed by Amgen this year as it looks to leverage its pipeline, including a $75 million expansion of its agreement with Cytokinetics on omecamtiv mecarbil that added in Japanese commercialisation rights.

It recently inked an agreement with Astellas to develop five of its pipeline drugs in Japan and formed a joint venture with Zhejiang Beta Pharma to sell its colorectal cancer drug Vectibix (panitumumab) in China, and is still pursuing a $10bn bid for cancer specialist Onyx.